This invention relates generally to new and improved jewelry and method of jewelry manufacturing, and more particularly relates to new and improved jewelry wherein a plurality of relatively large stones are mounted higher than a plurality of relatively small stones to enhance their brilliance and a method of manufacturing such jewelry.
As known to those skilled in the jewelry art, jewelry may be manufactured in the form of rings, bracelets, pendants, necklaces, pins, watch band links, settings, galleries, ornaments, findings, castings, or the like, and may include, for example, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other precious, semi-precious or artificial gems or gem stones.
As is further known to the jewelry art, jewelry is made from many different bodies of jewelry material, such as gold, silver, platinum, and the like and alloys thereof.
As is still further known to those skilled in the jewelry art, natural gems, as their name indicates, occur in nature, and, even after cutting and polishing, typically come in varying sizes and shapes. For example, with respect to diamonds, even though all diamonds in a group from a suitable source may come polished and cut into the well known round brilliant shape, squares, baguettes, and other known shapes, such diamonds typically come in a melange of different sizes and different carats or weights. Prior to setting in jewelry, diamonds from a typical melange are typically graded to provide groups or pluralities of diamonds of the same general size and carat or weight, and even though such diamonds may be graded into two groups or pluralities of relatively large and relatively small diamonds (and typically with at least a few remaining culls), there still exists a need in the art for a jewelry mounting or setting for such gems which permits the jeweler to use a mix of such relatively large and small gems which enhances their overall brilliance and therefore their visual attractiveness and saleability.
Further known to those skilled in the jewelry art is that a single one carat diamond is considerably more expensive than the total price of two smaller half carat diamonds. Accordingly, by way of example and not by way of limitation, there exists a need in the art for a jewelry mounting and a method of mounting pluralities of relatively small and relatively large diamonds in a manner that their overall brilliance and visual attractiveness at least approximates the brilliance and attractiveness of a single, larger diamond whose weight is the same, or at least substantially the same, as the total or accumulative weight of the pluralities of relatively small and relatively large diamonds.
As is yet further known to those skilled in the jewelry art, current regulations strictly prescribe the advertising of gems, such as diamonds, by their carat or weight and require that the gems sold under such advertisement adhere strictly to the advertised carat or weight. Accordingly, there exists a further need in the jewelry art for a new and improved gem mounting and method of gem mounting which permits the jeweler to mount pluralities of relatively large and relatively small gems in a manner such that their total or cumulative carat or weight more nearly totals an advertised carat or weight and which only minimally is below or minimally above the advertised carat or weight. For example, if a jeweler has five diamonds, three of which are relatively large each of 0.11 carat, and two of which are relatively small each of 0.085 carat, the three relatively large diamonds have a combined weight of 0.33 carat and the two relatively small diamonds have a combined weight of 0.17 carat, and such total diamonds have a total or cumulative weight of 0.5 carat. It is well known that such five diamonds having a cumulative weight of 0.5 carat are less expensive than a single 0.5 carat diamond. Accordingly, there is a need for the jeweler to mount such five diamonds in a manner that they approximate the brilliance and visual attractiveness of a single 0.5 carat diamond and which permits the jeweler to add or subtract a relatively large or a relatively small gem from a setting and more nearly meet the advertised carat without losing money or risking a charge of false advertising.
Numerous gems or gem stones mountings or settings are known to the art as are numerous prior inventions for setting such gems or gem stones. U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,294 entitled METHOD FOR THE MOUNTING OF GEMS AND RESULTING PRODUCT, patented Jan. 28, 1986, discloses a mounting and method utilizing a groove having an inwardly tapered conical lower portion wherein the taper of the groove is smaller than the taper of the pavilions of the stones set in the groove. This is contrary to certain embodiments of the present invention comprising an inwardly tapered groove, conical in transverse cross-section, or conical cavities wherein the taper of the groove or cavities is substantially the same as the taper of the pavilions of the stones set in the groove or cavities. Another patent disclosing a mounting for gems is U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,660 entitled MOUNTING FOR GEM STONES, patented Mar. 31, 1992. This patent discloses a setting wherein alternating relatively large and relatively small stones are set with the relatively large stones being set higher than the relatively small stones. The stones alternate one relatively large stone and two relatively small stones with portions of the relatively small stones being overlapped by the adjacent relatively large stones. This overlapping of stones, unlike the present invention, undesirably causes a loss in viewing of portions of the relatively small stones and a loss in brilliance from the overlapped smaller stones.
Still further, there exists a need in the art for a jeweler to be able to satisfy the foregoing needs and to do so with a jewelry mounting or setting, and method of manufacture, which permits such needs to be satisfied utilizing machine setting of the gems with a minimum of hand or manual setting.